The case of the missing Toby
by holmes-osapien
Summary: Toby goes missing, and Molly is incredibly sad about it. Sherlock can't see his pathologist so distracted at work.


That morning was one in of a long string of disappointments for Doctor Molly Hooper. She had awoken at her usual time of 6:30am to allow her morning routine to flow, maintaining she had perfect attendance at work. As per the norm she drowsily dragged herself from bed, feeling the empty presence of her cat more than in the last few days. With heavy feet, she shuffled unenthusiastically into her small kitchen. She stared down at the cat bowl on the floor by the kitchen sink cupboard. Her beloved cat Toby had been missing for three days. This primarily had been the reason Molly felt unbelievably low the past week. Well it also had something to do with how under appreciated she felt at work, with her new boss and his strikingly pigheadedness. She felt so low that she didn't bother eating. Instead she simply turned around and headed for the shower. After spending twice as long under the hot water, she was finally able to haul a towel around her. The bedside clock displayed that it was 7:45. She had to be at work by 8:00 and she was still standing naked, with wet hair from the shower, in the centre of the bedroom. Molly decided in that moment she really didn't care. Her colleagues could just wait for her to arrive.

oOo

Sherlock strolled into the morgue, pursued by John. He had expected to find Molly leaning over a corpse, or hunched at the desk with a pile of paperwork. Instead he found the morgue to be eerily more silent that it normally was. He looked around and saw no sign that Molly had been here today. Peering down at his watch, he made the time to be 9:38am. Molly was nowhere to be seen. He glanced around at john who stood by the door. "Where's Molly?" John asked, also looking around the morgue. Sherlock shrugged, but looked slightly concerned. "She never misses work." Sherlock stated. John frowned, "Maybe she's taken a sick day?"  
"I seriously doubt it… I'm going to go and look for her. Make sure she's okay."

He pushed the door wide to leave the confines of the morgue. The door hit the wall behind with a thud. As he was about to step over the threshold, Molly slipped into the room, dodging his body as she ducked under his arm. She proceeded to walk straight past both men, ignoring their presences. With both headphones still in, she walked over to her ajar office door and slipped inside. Sherlock and John exchanged a look as if to say, is she okay? Sherlock cautiously walked over to Molly's office and looked through the open door. He watched as Molly dumped her bag at the foot of her desk. Sighing heavily she pulled off her coat and shrugged into her lab coat. She removed both of her headphones and extracted her iPod from her trouser pocket. After setting down her iPod, she lifted the pile of paperwork off her desk. "Three post mortems today. Better get started." She muttered to herself. She suddenly looked up and Sherlock stood in the doorway. "I can't help you with anything today. I'm too busy." Molly said distractedly, not meeting his gaze. Walking around the desk she tried to walk past Sherlock and out of the door, but he grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving.

She gasped as he pulled her closer to stop her struggling. Timidly, she looked up into his eyes. He stared down at her, drawing his deductions together whilst reading her face and body language. "How long has Toby been missing?" He asked her.  
"Three days. I haven't seen him since Monday morning." She mumbled. He stared at her a little longer.  
"I'll go and look for him." He announced.  
"Why would you care? He's just a pest to you." She frowned.  
"True, I don't like the beast. But I like you. You mean a great deal to me so what I don't like is seeing you sad and distracted." He replied truthfully. Molly gave him a sad smile.  
"Thank you." She muttered as Sherlock released her and turned to go.  
"Oh and don't worry about your new boss. I'm already trying to get him fired. He's even more arrogant than I am. I hate him and know you do too." Sherlock called over his shoulder. Molly rolled her eyes and smiled more genuinely, but she didn't have much hope of him finding her pet. She had already faced the possibility of Toby lying dead in alleyway.

oOo

After five gruelling autopsies' and a mountain of paperwork, Molly was finally able to go home. She hadn't heard a word from Sherlock since he left the morgue that morning, and it was now 8:48pm. That night she took her usual route home. She walked to the tube station and then after enduring the tube journey walked another 10 minutes to her block of flats. She climbed the stairs and paused at the door, to fumble in her bags for the keys. When she finally found them and managed to get the key to fit in the lock so stumbled through to door. She froze at the sight of Sherlock sprawled across her couch with, much to her joy and surprise, Toby curled on his stomach.

"You found him!" Molly cried as she lunged towards the sofa and swept her cat into her arms. He snuggled into his mothers embrace. Sherlock gingerly stood up. Molly turned to look at the man who had found her beloved cat. She gasped as her eyes settled upon his face. He had a deep gash across his cheek and cheek bones as well as sporting a bruise on his jawline. "Oh my god! What happened?!" She exclaimed whilst setting a sleepy Toby down on the sofa so she could attend to Sherlock.

Molly reached up to examine his cheek. He bent down so she was able to look at his injuries. After a few moments of examination, she pushed him towards the kitchen and into a chair. She reached into the cupboard to retrieve her first aid kit. She set about cleaning the cut whilst Sherlock explained what had happened. He told her about stealing animals to test experimental drugs on. He had assured her that the organisation hadn't yet experimented on Toby so he was in the clear. What he did not tell her, was his use of Mycroft's connections and some of Scotland Yard, in order for him to take down the unnervingly large criminal organisation that stemmed far further than simply stealing household animals. But she didn't need to know about that, after all finding Toby was his number one priority. What made the whole situation more ironic was that Sherlock had found a way to get rid of her new boss. The new widely hated head of pathology was heavily involved in the catnapping crime vindicate.

Molly could not resist a small chuckle at the next thought that crossed her mind. Sherlock frowned, "What's so funny?" Molly packed away the contents of her little first aid kit, and bent to place in back in the cupboard under the sink. "Well you appear to have become something of my hero today. Swooping in and fixing all of my problems simultaneously. I'm starting to feel like Lois Lane!" She told him. He simply frowned at her imaginations conclusion, but to Molly his expression looked slightly smug. Molly turned serious as she turned to face him fully. "But honestly, thank you very much, you have helped me out today." She whispered as she bent forward to give Sherlock a light kiss on the cheek. A blush crept up Sherlock's neck and broadened across his high cheek bones. At this Molly smirked before she offered him a cup of tea.

FIN. -Jess


End file.
